World Outdoor Trials Championship Erba, Italy
Round 5 Day 1 Sunday
 Dougie
Lampkin battled to a brave fourth place at today’s Italian
Grand Prix, with the thirty one year old Yorkshireman making
his first competitive outing since he dislocated his finger
at the previous round nearly a month ago. Lampkin always knew
that it was going to be a difficult return as the injury has
prevented him from practising for the last four weeks, which
meant he was going to be slightly rusty on the bike and not
at full fitness. There was no easy way back for Dougie, as
the Italian round served up one of the toughest trials of
the season to date.
Still showing signs of his injury Lampkin struggled his way
around the first lap, and soon lost sight of the leading pack
as he notched up five fives in the first nine sections and
collected a further three maximums as he made his way to the
punch card change. His total of forty marks left him down
in sixth spot at the halfway point, just behind his team mate
Takahisa Fujinami and fellow British rider James Dabill.
With only a salvaging exercise on the cards, Dougie produced
a typically gritty closing performance to improve his second
lap score by a substantial twelve marks compared to his morning
showing, this was despite him having to fight with fatigue
as the high temperature added to an already difficult day.
Whilst someway off the eventual leading trio of Toni Bou,
Adam Raga and Fujinami, Lampkin could at least find some satisfactory
as he claimed fourth position just ahead of Albert Cabestany.
Lampkin still holds fourth position in the overall standings,
despite his recent injury.
Lampkin stated. “Having not ridden
since I injured my finger in Japan, it was always going to
be a difficult Grand Prix for me. This was made worse by the
fact that it has been a really tough trial, even if I had
been fully fit. My right hand is really tired and sore, as
the other fingers have been compensating for the lack of grip
I have in my damaged finger. At times it was difficult to
just hang on, especially when you had to hit some of the stuff
really hard and with full commitment. With another two rounds
over the next two weeks, it is going to have to be a case
of survival before anything else, so hopefully I can then
be fully fit for my home GP.”
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